Navigating without a GPS (Sara)

Sometime yesterday (was that yesterday??), we finally departed for the adventure we've been planning for the last year. In a flurry of last-minute activity, we I finished packing, cleaned the house, cancelled the newspaper, emptied the fridge, and wrapped up a million little details with a slightly foggy brain from the previous night's departure celebrations.

Each of our standard pre-travel norms were in play. Tyler and Dylan were mostly concerned with having a full charge on their devices. Max had a LOT of questions ("How far is it? How many seats are on the plane? 145? When are we going to get there? Are there fire alarms in the bathroom? Can I sit by myself? Who's driving the car? Does he know where to go? Will he steal the car?"...). Jon was his usual calm-and-collected-yet-slightly-distracted-by-work self, and I had anxious energy spilling out of me and angrily directed at the small people who continued to multiply the mess I was frantically trying to contain before we left.

Without incident and without much sleep, we arrived in Zurich for a 10-hour layover around 7:00 this morning. I was immediately brought back to my younger years when I travelled around Europe during and after college, and then immediately brought right back to reality when I realized how different it is with 3 kids in tow. We spent the first hour in Zurich waking up the city with Max's epic "my face is cold" tantrum that echoed off the walls of the beautiful cobble-stoned streets as we avoided the glares of older Swiss women.

Once that subsided (food is always the answer), something fun happened. We figured out how to get around without a GPS. We had one of those folded paper maps they give out at the train station and not a clue of where to go. Remembering how to read a map felt like learning calculus again. I'm so used to the nav that I barely know how to use that part of my brain anymore. Without a purpose or destination, we just started hopping on and off trams and got comfortable with not having a plan. I'm sure we could have become more cultured or educated if we'd hit the museums and churches, but this was kind of better.

We're now sprawled around an airport lounge like it's our very own living room, getting our fill of WiFi, and trying to stay awake long enough to get a full(ish) night of sleep on the next flight to Bangkok, where we will surely arrive to much warmer temperatures and another 6-hour timezone adjustment. And while I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get our fill of cheese fondue today, I will definitely make up for it with my fill of Thai food for the next month!

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TRAVEL HACKS
A few tips and favorite items so far...  

1. Loved this new travel pillow on the flight. Super comfortable for sleeping and compact.
2. Compression socks for flying - made my feet so happy. No cankles!
3. Packable puffer jacket  - great last-minute purchase and fits easily into my very full backpack.
4. CLEAR! - I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. So easy and helpful. They registered me right at the airport and it took 5 minutes.